Electronic equipment, for example, portable equipment, is nowadays equipped with one camera unit. Such an arrangement is in fact quite adequate for performing ordinary still and video imaging with moderate resolution. However, along with the development, future equipment and their circle of users will demand development of new manners of imaging.
One example of these new imaging manners is 3D imaging. Equipment to be launched on the markets in the future will have three-dimensional displays, or the equipment will allow performance of 3D applications. Contents must also be created for these, so that the new characteristics of the displays and applications can be utilised fully. As is known, the informative capacity of 3D images is superior to, for example, the informative capacity of traditional 2D images, which for its part adds to the interest paid to them.
According to the state of the art, a 3D image can be formed of two separate images taken at the same time. If the imaged object is immobile, the user may take two separate images by moving the equipment slightly to the left or to the right between taking the images. Instead, if the imaged object is in motion, such an imaging method is rather unsuitable. The location of the camera is also of essential importance to 3D camera imaging based on successive shots. If the location of the camera is not sufficiently exact, so-called artefacts, i.e. undesirable distortions, will then appear in the image. Rough outlines are one example of these.
Panorama imaging is an other example of the new imaging manners. According to the state of the art, a panorama image can be formed by using a special lens arrangement. However, the lens arrangement constitutes a very complicated and even cost-intensive whole, where the size factors of portable equipment also cause limitations of their own. If the panorama functionality would be arranged in the equipment by using a lens system, then at least it would have the effect of increasing the height of the equipment. Known portable electronic equipment also provided with an integrated camera functionality have so far entirely lacked the panorama imaging functionality.
Furthermore, known kinds camera means and especially the image sensors they apply are only capable of a certain and quite limited image resolution. This poses a problem to do with the resolution of the image, and the problem cannot be solved at least with image sensors of the known kinds. If improved resolution is desired, this requires sensors of a better quality, but applying these will raise the consumer price of the equipment. And furthermore, if e.g. enlargements are to be made of the image, the limited resolution will cause problems, for example, in the form of granularity.
European patent application number 1 357 726 (NEC Corporation) discloses a mobile station, in which there are two cameras arranged on the same side as the display component. The display component is arranged to be turned between horizontal and vertical positions. In this case, the two cameras are intended to produce 3D image information. The camera arrangement described, in which the mutual position of the cameras relative to each other, is fixed, is not, however, the best possible for producing 3D image information, not it is suitable for implementing more diverse imaging modes.